The invention relates to a life jacket having additional lifesaving means for arrangement in flotation aids or flotation jackets, in particular for persons.
A life jacket is a lifesaving device which in particular provides additional buoyancy to a person who finds himself or herself in water. It is preferably an item of clothing designed in the shape of a jacket. This item of clothing generally has armholes through which the arms can be guided, while the other parts of the body, namely the back, chest and abdomen, are covered by the jacket. Closure elements such as a zipper, buckles or the like hold the life jacket in the required position on the body.
The term flotation jacket is known. However, this ought also to be understood as covering a life jacket. In terms of their appearance, flotation aids can also be compared with life jackets. Flotation aids have less buoyancy than life jackets.
Flotation aids are known in different designs and with different buoyancy properties. For example, so-called flotation jackets, kayaking jackets, rowing jackets, etc., are included in this category.
The appropriate size is dependent on the required buoyancy volume of the life jacket. This is calculated by the total weight of the wearer, including clothing and equipment, and the area of water being sailed on. The following classifications are provided:                50N buoyancy: flotation aid only for proficient swimmers close to shore or accompanied by a safety vessel; not safe if user unconscious; the flotation jackets, kayaking jackets or rowing jackets known from sports, and also jackets comparable to these, likewise generally have a buoyancy of ca. 50N and are also not safe if user unconscious;        100N buoyancy: life jacket for inshore waters and for protected coastal waters; safe only to a limited extent if user unconscious;        150N: life jacket for all waters, safe if user unconscious, but only to a limited extent if person is wearing heavy water-proof clothing;        275N: life jacket for the open sea and extreme conditions, safe in almost all cases if user unconscious, despite heavy clothing.        
In the context of a particular specification, the life jacket is able to right even an unconscious person to a safe floating position and/or to maintain them in this position.
Lifesaving means for saving persons and animals, who for example come into unintended contact with deep water, are known in various embodiments. Among others, life jackets or flotation aids and buoyancy aids are known that are arranged directly on the body. These differ from one another mainly in terms of the buoyancy force provided but are very similar in terms of their function and construction.
On the basis of their buoyancy systems, life jackets can be divided into solid jackets and inflatable life jackets. Solid jackets have rigidly incorporated buoyancy means, as a result of which the jackets are of relatively large volume. The buoyancy means are made of solid material and, consequently, are not compressible or are only slightly flexible.
This life jacket with maximum buoyancy is intended to protect the person or animal from drowning and to keep said person or animal at least at the surface of the water. Such life jackets have a jacket shape (without sleeves) and can be fixed on the body of the wearer by means of one or more closure elements. To ensure that the life jacket bears properly on the body, leg straps or crotch straps are additionally provided which also hold the life jacket in position upon contact with water. Preferably, these life jackets have a corresponding signaling color. In order to provide a safe position on the water even if the wearer is unconscious, provision is made to arrange a collar element on the life jacket, such that the person comes to lie in a stable position on his or her back on the surface of the water, such that the head area is supported and the airways are thus kept free, particularly if the person is injured or no longer conscious.
Inflatable life jackets are generally worn folded up in a small format. When they are to be used, they are inflated by hand or automatically. This embodiment proposes a life jacket being provided in such a way that it has no static buoyancy bodies (consisting of solid) out of water. Instead, the buoyancy bodies are generated only when corresponding contact is made with the water. The triggering is generally effected by a kind of sensor element which, for example, is made available by a salt tablet (or another material that changes its properties in contact with water). This salt tablet releases a mechanism which permits a sudden flow of CO2, which is stored in a container or a cartridge, into a body element. The body element is hose-like and arranged in a pouch around the neck. A belt-like construction, or life belt, secures the hose-like construction on the body of the wearer, particularly when the gaseous medium has flowed into the body element. The body element thus becomes a buoyancy element.
Flotation aids or buoyancy aids (so-called flotation jackets, canoeing jackets, kayaking jackets, fishing jackets, rowing jackets, etc.) are similarly constructed. However, in order to ensure greater freedom of movement for the wearer, these have smaller buoyancy bodies of solid material (approximate buoyancy 50N). Moreover, they do not generally have the corresponding head support to provide safety when the wearer is unconscious, namely a collar element.
As regards personal safety equipment, in particular for persons participating in water sports such as sailing or kayaking, life jackets or flotation aids (also often known as flotation jackets or kayaking jackets) tailored to the person are prescribed by law.
As regards safety equipment of this kind, the devices that provide safety when the person is unconscious are fundamentally distinguished from the devices that do not. That is to say, the latter are unable to keep the person's head safely above water and keep the airways clear when said person has lost consciousness or, for example, is injured. Therefore, such flotation aids, for example flotation jackets, are used mainly in sports activities, where help is generally quickly provided.
In the prior art, an inflatable device is also known which is worn by persons directly on the body. The safety device can be secured like a belt around the waist and abdomen and, upon contact with water, correspondingly fills with a gas. For this purpose, body elements are provided which are arranged like a belt on the system and which are filled with the gaseous element. Here too, the buoyancy body is provided only by inflation of the body element.
In further developments, provision is made for the lifesaving means to have electronic support elements.
The support elements are designed in such a way that, for example, the water pressure is measured. It is only at a certain water pressure that the body elements are triggered or inflated. This device is known, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 6,246,329 B1.
However, in order to be able to operate such a device, it is necessary that an electrical unit is arranged. These electrical units, which among other things also contain a current supply and a timer, are arranged separate from the lifesaving means. The connections must be configured in such a way that they are waterproof and are able to function over a long period of time, since lifesaving means of the aforementioned type are generally stored for quite a long time either in rooms or boxes or are used on a daily basis and then have to perform their function in an emergency.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,603,648 discloses a lifesaving means consisting of a solid jacket. The latter has a certain buoyancy. As additional lifesaving means, a body element is integrated in the lifesaving means and in an emergency can be inflated by mouth by the user or is filled with air/gas from a cartridge. The latter is triggered by hand.
US 2006/0040574 A1 discloses a flotation aid in the form of a life jacket with low buoyancy, which additionally comprises a further buoyancy means. This further buoyancy means is arranged in the front area of the flotation aid and can be activated by manual triggering, with air/gas flowing from a cartridge into the additional buoyancy means as a result of this triggering.
If a person gets into an emergency situation at sea or in water, it is necessary for this person to have a life jacket arranged on the body. If the person is able to stay above water by his own strength, life jackets with a buoyancy of up to 100N are sufficient. However, if the person is unconscious, the lifesaving means has to supply enough buoyancy to ensure that the body, including the water-saturated clothing, remains above water. The person's head is also kept above water. However, life jackets with buoyancy forces of up to 100N may no longer meet this requirement. The person would drown. Wearing life jackets right from the outset that provide the relevant buoyancy force is uncomfortable and, particularly in sports activities, unusual. Particularly in sports such as water skiing, kayaking, rowing or also sailing, it is almost impossible, since the solid jackets are very rigid and do not permit movement. Automatic jackets have the disadvantage that they already activate at the initial contact with water and are then of such great volume that they do not allow the sport to be continued.
The mechanical loads for such lifesaving means are considerable. Therefore, these lifesaving means known from the prior art are of very compact construction and are generally uncomfortable for the persons who wear such lifesaving means, particularly those providing a high buoyancy force. The reason they are uncomfortable is that, in the case of solid lifesaving means (flotation body elements with defined buoyancy), a large volume is arranged directly on the body of the wearer, particularly also on the chest area. This leads to a feeling of being constricted, but also to limited movement, and therefore these lifesaving means are often not worn despite the corresponding regulations. In an emergency, it is generally too late to put on the lifesaving means. Moreover, the lifesaving means is visually very conspicuous, and this conspicuousness is not wanted by most persons.
The solid lifesaving means in particular are designed in such a way that, although they supply a defined buoyancy, an external impulse is needed so that, for example, a person face down in the water can be righted within a short time (if it is a lifesaving means providing safety when the wearer is unconscious). The external impulse is provided by a wave movement of the water, which gives the body the energy to right itself, so that it is transferred from an unstable position to a stable position.
Moreover, the automatic life jackets which propel gas into body elements for buoyancy, upon contact with water, are designed such that desired righting of the body does not take place. Instead it has been shown that, as a result of the lateral arrangement of the gas cartridge, inflation is undesirably staggered slightly, and a countermovement can occur which in an undefined manner sometimes prevents the desired supine position of the body. Here too, an external turning movement (for example the wave movement) is therefore needed to keep the body on the water, at least in a way that provides safety if the wearer is unconscious.
The aforementioned lifesaving means do not show the user whether it actually functions. For example, in the case of the automatic life jackets, if a salt tablet does not completely dissolve so as to trigger the release of the gas stored in a container into the body elements, no gas flows into the body element and the inflation does not take place. The lifesaving means thus has no function. Nevertheless, it is very clear to the observer that, from the display of the green indicators, which confirm only a partial function (e.g. filled gas cartridge), the function is performed. Consequently, reliability and absolute safety are not provided. In the case of solid life jackets, tactile and visual checks exclusively take place.
In all lifesaving means, it is necessary for fastenings to be provided in the crotch or leg area, since otherwise this lifesaving means moves over the body in the direction of the head as soon as the person is located in the water. If the fixing elements in the leg area are not properly applied, the lifesaving means may lose its function. Since there are many possible ways of putting such lifesaving means on, there is a danger of incorrect operation, with the result that the lifesaving means does not provide the desired assistance in an emergency.
Flotation jackets generally only have a slight buoyancy of 50N. Such jackets are used in sailing sports or comparable types of sports, since there is always contact with water. Therefore, self-triggering life jackets are not suitable.
Alternatively, flotation jackets are already known which contain an additional buoyancy element. However, it is always triggered manually and thus presupposes that the user is fully conscious. Therefore, this type of flotation jacket with additional buoyancy means is also not safe if the wearer has lost consciousness. The user is therefore at a considerable risk since, even in the area of sports, situations can arise in which the user becomes powerless or even unconscious.